Shloka 19
Karma, Jñāna, and Bhakti: Vedic Dharma, Piety and Sin, and the Boat of Human Life
धार्यमाणं मनो यर्हि भ्राम्यदश्वनवस्थितम् । अतन्द्रितोऽनुरोधेन मार्गेणात्मवशं नयेत् ॥ १९ ॥
dhāryamāṇaṁ mano yarhi bhrāmyad āśv anavasthitam atandrito ’nurodhena mārgeṇātma-vaśaṁ nayet
တည်ငြိမ်စေထားသော စိတ်သည် မတည်မငြိမ် မြင်းကဲ့သို့ ရုတ်တရက် လမ်းလွဲသွားလျှင်၊ ပျင်းရိမနေဘဲ သတ်မှတ်ထားသော နည်းလမ်းအတိုင်း သတိထား၍ မိမိထိန်းချုပ်မှုအောက်သို့ ပြန်လည်ခေါ်ဆောင်ရမည်။
Although one is seriously engaging the mind in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the mind is so flickering that it may suddenly be deviated from its spiritual position. One should then carefully bring the mind back under the control of the self. It is stated in Bhagavad-gītā that if one is too austere or too sensuous one cannot control the mind. Sometimes one may bring the mind under control by allowing the material senses limited satisfaction. For example, although one may eat austerely, from time to time one may accept a reasonable amount of mahā-prasādam, opulent foods offered to the temple Deities, so that the mind will not become disturbed. Similarly, one may occasionally relax with other transcendentalists through joking, swimming and so forth. But if such activities are performed excessively, they will lead to a setback in spiritual life. When the mind desires sinful gratification such as illicit sex or intoxication, one must simply tolerate the mind’s foolishness and by strenuous effort push on with Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then the waves of illusion will soon subside, and the path of advancement will again open wide.
FAQs
This verse compares the mind to an unsteady, untrained horse and teaches that even if it slips away while being restrained, one should stay vigilant and patiently guide it back onto the proper spiritual path until it comes under self-control.
Krishna instructs Uddhava on practical spiritual discipline: real progress requires steady, attentive practice, because the mind may continue to wander even when one is trying to restrain it.
Treat distractions as normal, remain alert, and gently return the mind to its practice—japa, prayer, study, or meditation—again and again, without discouragement, until steadiness develops.